Camallanus Worms

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craigey1
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:27 pm

Camallanus Worms

Post by craigey1 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:03 pm

Hi,

I've been keeping clown loaches in my community tank for about a year & never really had any many problems, (guessing I've been lucky & just spent a lot of time reading various articles). However a couple of months ago I lost one of my younger clowns and another one had a sunken in belly. I read up on 'skinny disease' & believed that this was caused by some type of worm. I also read that Waterlife Sterazin would be a good way to remove the worms. I dosed accordingy (in fact did 2 rounds of treatments a week apart) & thought they would just take a little time to bulk back up. I moved them back to the main tank, but just yesterday lost a molly to a Camallanus worm, I know this because when I removed her the worm was protuding from her anus & was still wriggling around.

Again more reading up led me to believe the only thing that is really going to work is Levamisole HCL, but this seems to be very difficult to find in the UK in it's raw form. I've seen it as Harker Verm liquid wormer 100ml, but am not sure of the % of Levamisole (I read on one forum that it's 80%, but not sure if this is true as another forum said 8%). I've read the article here regarding the dosing, but am still not sure of just how much I would need to dose. My tank is 1100 Litres (241.966073 UK Gallons / 290.589258 US).

Does anyone know how much of this Harker Verm I would need (assuming it's 80% or 8% levamisole)? I understand the reccomended dose is 2mg per litre, (but it can be overdosed to about 50mg p/l without any ill effect - not that I plan on doing this!). Any simple explanations with examples would really help! I understand I need to dose this 3 times several weeks apart. I've also looked at 'Levamisole 7.5% Wormer for Cattle and Sheep', but again I'm still not sure how much of this I would need to dose. Any ideas on what I should get & where I can get it?

Is this the best course of action? I've also researched Wormer Plus from Plymouth Discus which contains 'Flubendazole', but I've read mixed things about just how well this does or doesn't remove the worms. The other medication I read about was SERA Nematol, but again have heard mixed reactions & it's also solvent based, so I'd rather avoid it.

Anyway thanks in advance for your advice.

UVvis
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:51 pm
Location: Central Florida

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by UVvis » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:35 pm

I'm not sure what is what name wise in the UK, but can you get praziquantel or metronidazole?

craigey1
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:27 pm

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by craigey1 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:16 pm

UVvis wrote:I'm not sure what is what name wise in the UK, but can you get praziquantel or metronidazole?
Thanks. The metronidazole is prescription only in The UK & apparently also comes in one form as a vaginal Gel! :lol:
I did find praziquantel for sale in the UK sold as Fluke-Solve http://www.fish-treatment.co.uk/products.html (hooray something that isn't prescription only)! so might give that a try. How effective is praziquantel? (just found this article: http://www.zebrapleco.com/articles/4_tr ... _worms.php that says it's not very good)I just don't want to have to keep treating with various medications.

I was ideally hoping to treat with the levamisole as it's supposed to be so effective & easy going on the fish. If anyone can help with this it would be great. alternatively I'll see about getting the praziquantel as suggested.

Thanks again.

EmilyMarie85
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Boise, ID USA

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by EmilyMarie85 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:24 pm

I'd go with the Levamisole - I have treated my clowns with it, with no ill effects. Try this: http://www.loaches.com/disease-treatmen ... chloride-1

craigey1
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:27 pm

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by craigey1 » Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:43 am

EmilyMarie85 wrote:I'd go with the Levamisole - I have treated my clowns with it, with no ill effects. Try this: http://www.loaches.com/disease-treatmen ... chloride-1
Thanks, have already read the article. I'm after some advice on where to get Lavamisole from & help with dosing if I purchase it as cattle wormer etc.

EmilyMarie85
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Boise, ID USA

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by EmilyMarie85 » Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:26 am

You can get it online, Levamisole under the name Prohibit - here is one site that sells it http://www.cattlestore.com/p-1119-agri- ... rench.aspx that is what I used, as for shipping it to the UK, sorry can't help you there - they may or may not - I really don't know, I am in the states.

As far as dosing goes, that article tells you how long, how much, etc. under the "Recommended Dosage" and "Dosage Calculation" sections.

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millsn
Posts: 182
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Location: England, Burton on Trent

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by millsn » Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:42 pm

You can get levamisole in the UK from agricultural suppliers. You will need to get a prescription form your vet and be prepared to dig deep it's expensive but you will get enough to last a lifetime. I got levacide at 7.5% levamisole I need 21.5ml to treat a 150 uk gallon tank. You will have enough to treat three times, I think the smallest you can get is 1 litre. Were you a farmer buying it for pigs you would not need a prescription but I understand they almost always use the injectable form these days so you'd probably get found out if you tried that on!

Other options:
I've had some success with flubendazole too (wormer plus by Kusuri) and JBL do one called Nedol containing Benzimidadol which is hard to source and even more expensive as it comes in tiny bottles (100ml) and the solution is quite weak.

Get yourself some levacide. Your profile doesn't say where you are..

Craig_
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:17 am
Location: Montreal, QC
Contact:

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by Craig_ » Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:32 pm

Years ago I could only find levamisole in sheep deworming pills. It did the job, but it was messy as the pills were dyed yellow. If you end up going this route, I'd suggest crushing the pills and filtering the result through a coffee filter.

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... ?read=5080

starsplitter7
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Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by starsplitter7 » Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:32 pm

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add two things I have learned.

1.) Fenbendazole positively works with camallanus worms. Can be dissolved in water and soak blood worms in it. (If you need this info -- how much water/Fenbedozole, let me know, and I can look up the article. I know it works, because we carry it in the store I work in and the feed back has been 100% success. Yea!)

2.) In the US you can get Levamisole from Joe Gargas at http://www.aquaresearchcenter.com/ I do not know if he sends internationally. He sells it in a measured bottle, which makes it super easy to dose. Before I met Joe, I couldn't find Levamisole anywhere.

On a slightly unrelated note, his rocket filters work great. You don't have to pay outrageous prices to replace the cartridges on the hang on the back filters. They are similar to the sponge filters of the past, but updated. He hand makes them and can customize them. I use them in my fry and shrimp tanks, but he also uses larger ones in his big discus tanks.

monicalovefish
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:33 pm

Re: Camallanus Worms

Post by monicalovefish » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:16 pm

I bought a worm killer called fenbendazole. It's the same stuff they use to deworm dogs. This one online company makes a flake fish food with it and it really helped me save my tank. Here's the website. That worm is a nightmare to treat! I've read you need to watch the tank for months after the treatment as it can still show up and kill off your tank. The Levamisole stuff only stuns the worm and you have to vacuum. I found it but I had to buy it as pigeon dewormer and frankly, I still lost my blue rams as it didn't save the day. The Fen stuff worked better. Here's the website which sells the fish flakes with Fenbendazole: http://www.angelsplus.com/MedsParasite.htm

I've looked all over and it's really, really tough to find ANYWHERE that sells a treatment for this worm. It's supposed to be the worst thing you can get in your tank. I keep ALL my gadgets separate for each tank so I don't ever mix equipment intentionally for this reason. Good luck.

Monica

Oops. I just read the note above mine...lucky you....an actual source of Levimisole. The stuff is tough to find.

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